Otherside
by Jeanne M
Summary: Chapter 6 new!  Before the events of X-Corps.  In an slight AU, Jubilation Lee and Angelo Espinoza run into some trouble after the disbandment of Generation X, and Angelo's cousin Anita is their only hope.
1. Default Chapter

Usual: Characters? Not Mine. Money? Heh. None Being Made. All things belong to those who own them. As usual. This is a (quasi) new genre for me, I'm new to Anita and her cronies. If you want someone to blame, blame Lovecraft, it's all her fault. Takes place after the brutal decimation and disbanding of Generation X in the Marvel timeline, and just after Killing Dance in Vampire Hunter. We know that vampires exist in the MU, but what if we shifted reality just a *bit* into Anita's world.....

  
  


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Otherside

  
  


"Dude. Ange. What the hell did you do?" The two teenagers stood looking at the vacant-eyed zombie. "Since when did raising the dead become part of your mutant abilities?" Jubilation Lee was doing her best to remain calm, but it was fairly obvious that the shuffling dead-thing was creeping her out as she edged behind her partner. "Scratch that. Dude, I don't care how ya did it, just put it back!"

"Jubicita, I'm not sure if I can." Angelo eyed the zombie suspiciously, worry clouding his face. "And I don't think it's a mutant thing. This happened once when I was real little, but abuelita was the one who made it go back. Don't flip out, but, um, this is kinda a family talent?" He winced at her shriek as the zombie shuffled a few steps toward them. "Ah....shit. Mamma Espinoza moved her kids away from abuelita because of this shit. She didn't want us being around the side of the family that was blessed by Satan, or something like that. You, dead guy. STOP." The zombie halted, confusion showing in it's slightly decayed features. "Jubicita, ya want to do me a favor?"

"Stop cutting off the circulation to your left arm?"

"That would be nice, si, but I want you to get the cell phone out of my back pocket and hit the speedial button, then 666. I need to have someone get me a phone number."

"Sure." She slipped the cell into her hand, flipping open the case. "Who am I going to be talking to, and why is that their speedial number?"

"Ah.....Torres?"

"You want your new girlfriend and partner-in-crimefighting to call your ex-girlfriend, who's job happens to be gangleader and who's operations we've been undermining for the past month?"

"Yeah."

"Ange, you are one sick bastard." Jubilee hit the speedial. "I'm doin' this on one condition."

"Name it."

"You never ever agree to mediate a gang truce in a graveyard and get between two knife wielding morons and bleed all over a grave again. Got it?"

"Yup. It's a deal."

"And I better get some damn good 'I'm-Really-Sorry' sex out of this." She saw the tips of his ears redden, and smirked. "Hi, is this Torres? Don't hang up! How would you like to pull Angelo Espinoza's ass out of a mess and have him owe you a favor?" 

  
  


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"Anita! Phone!" Mary waved me over, eyes wide as she covered the receiver. "I think it's Judith...." 

I take the phone from her, silently cursing. I really did not want to talk to my step-mother this morning, especially since Bert kept looking at me like he thought I might shoot something, which probably meant he signed me up for a case he knew I wouldn't take of my own will. "Anita Blake here."

"We were right to move." The hostility in Judith's voice is apparent. "We wanted away from those in your family who traffic with the devil."

"Judith, what are you talking about?"

"One of your cousins called earlier. At least, that's how he described himself. Your "abuela's" sisters' daughter's son." I frown, mentally tracing the family line in my head. "He says he needs to get ahold of your other grandmother." The disapproval in her voice slices through the phone. "He said the only phone number he could find was ours, Anita. I don't want those people calling here."

"Can I have his phone number? I'll talk to him, and make sure that my relatives know not to call you." I took down the name and number, a feeling of dread falling in my stomach as I hung up the phone. I looked at the name, rolling my pencil thoughtfully between my fingers. This was going to be interesting. Especially since Angelo Espinoza was supposed to be dead.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  


End Chapter One....... 


	2. Calls in the Night

Author's Notes: Wow, I've gotten great feedback from everyone with this! I guess this means I can't think up creative ways to torture Lovecraft for hooking me on the misadventures of Anita and the undead hottie brigade. Anita Blake and company = Laurell K. Hamilton. Jubilee, Angelo, Gen. X, and X-Men = Marvel. No money here, sorry.

The incident I'm referencing is one of the Generation X issues....don't remember which one and I don't have my collection with me. I assume that in the Anitaverse Dracula (from MU) would have been "taken care of" since he'd be bad publicity. Praise languidly bathed in, flames used to make smores. Ever onwards! ~ Jeanne M.

*** = change in POV

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Otherside

chapter two

  
  


The phone shrilled throughout the apartment, prompting muttered curses from the bedroom as Jubilee groggily fumbled her way into the kitchen, where they had left the cell the night before. "'Alo?" 

"Is Angelo Espinoza there?"

Jubilee froze, eyes going wide as she came fully awake. "Um, I'm sorry ma'am, I don't know anyone by that name. You must have the wrong number."

"This is his cousin, Anita. He called my step-mother from this phone." Jubilee could hear the other woman's suspicion clearly. "Angelo is supposed to be dead, and I get a call saying he needs my assistance. Now, zombies don't make phone calls, so that makes him a living person, or he's become a vampire, a disavowed were-animal, or some other monster of the night. I don't know or care who or what the hell you are, and I'm not in the mood to play games. Put Angelo on the phone."

"The name's Jubilee, lady, and I live here. And Angelo isn't a monster. Try a mutant." Jubilee hoped her sneer carried over the phone. "His momma don't have a very high opinion of the Gifted, so Ange decided to skip town and play dead."

***

I was silent for a moment while I tried to process that bit of information. Mutant. Her 'dead' little cousin was a mutant who had successfully passed himself off as deceased for a number of years, sounded like he had a rather spirited (female) roommate, and now he was in enough trouble to give her a call. This was getting more and more interesting. "Look, Julie, I apologize for calling him a monster, but can you tell me what's going on?"

"Jubilee. Not Julie. Ange kinda made a dead-dude stand at attention, as in blood and rising and shit. Major bad mojo. He knows more, lemme wake him up." I shook my head, trying to process the girl's rapid babble as I could dimly hear footsteps and the sound of a door opening. "Ange! Wake-up! Yer cousin's on the phone, looks like Torres was good fer somethin' after all." She heard a muffled protest, and what sounded like a pillow being thumped against a body. "Dude! She's on the phone NOW." There was the dead air of a phone being passed, and a half-hearted cough.

"Yeah. I'm here." Masculine, slightly nervous. It *sounded* like the Angelo she remembered.

"Ange, it's Anita."

"Hey."

"Hey yourself. What possessed you to call Judith? You know I'm in St Louis."

"Si, but I don't chill with the vamp crowd, and your home phone number isn't listed. Couldn't leave a message at your work since I'm "dead" and Jubilee wouldn't make a convincing legit customer. Your boss only passes on calls from cops or big money, and we ain't neither."

"Good point. What's the deal, Angelo? That girl....Judy...?...said something about zombies."

"Jubilee. Si, I know, her parents musta been drugged out hippies or something." I wince at the shriek from the other end of the phone, and Angelo's curses as the sound of something hitting flesh carried over the line. "It's short for Jubilation. Jubilation Lee. She's my roommate/business partner."

"Ahem." 

"Oh yeah, and my girlfriend." I can almost picture the tips of his ears turning red. "Um, so, I kinda got myself cut while hanging out in a graveyard, and got a visitor of the undead-type. I managed to convince it to go away, but I don't know if it'll stay down."

"Yeah, I'd say you need help."

"I don't need help, Anita. I need an expert opinion. Is this thing going to stay in its grave, or come after me since I raised it?"

"So you blew your cover and called me?"

"Not exactly.....I doubt Judith keeps track which of us 'devilspawn' die or anything. Your family can't blow my cover, and you won't."

"Why wouldn't I?"

"'Cause you like trouble, Anita. An' having a 'dead' primo agrees with your sick sense of humor. I'm dead, so I can't get in trouble for the shit that you pull and blame on me." I made a non-committal grunt. I was NOT admitting to that. "Now is my new friend going to rise again or not?" 

After a half-hour or so going over the finer points of accidental animation, I somehow managed to reassure my paranoid cousin that no, it wasn't going to rise again. "Angelo?"

"Yeah?"

"This wasn't a freak accident, you know."

"Sure it was. I stay out of graveyards, don't bleed on dead people, and I'll be fine, right?" I don't answer. "Anita.....you aren't helping me feel any better."

"Ange, I can raise the dead without blood. There's a remote possibility that you can do the same. Necromancy runs in our family."

"Whoa, step back amiga. Are you saying I can do that funky shit you do?" He doesn't sound happy about it, and I don't blame him.

"I hate to break it to you, but you just did. Not everyone can raise the dead, you don't just slash some chicken's neck and get instant-zombie. It takes a certain talent, which you obviously have. You need to find a teacher somewhere, unless you want to wake up one night and find a decayed creepy-crawly in your room." 

"All animators must be registered." His voice sounds suddenly empty. "I can't do that, Anita. Not without buying a new identity, and I don't have the cashflow for that. I let my momma know I'm alive, and it'd break her heart. Besides, I already got people trying to kill me. I don't need people knowing where I am."

"What do you mean?"

"I was a hood before I died, primita. I got a criminal record. Mis amigos are no good. I'm a 'mutie' with friends in the wrong places. Bein' me ain't healthy. I'm a ghetto-raised Hispanic male living with his Chinese girlfriend, both of whom are tryin' to keep under la policia's radar. Understand?" I hear the frustration and bitterness in his voice, and try to figure out what to say that won't sound condescending.

"Okay, so you're in a bad spot. Got that." Something clicks in my brain. "That's why Jubilee initially told me I had the wrong number."

"Yeah. We've got this place under the names of Angelo and Jae Ramos. But those ID papers won't stand up to the scrutiny they'd get if I had to register as an Animator."

I take a deep breath. I can't believe I'm about to do this, but..... "Can you get out to St Louis?"

"Que?"

"You heard me. I can't do anything out there. I probably can't even get out there." Which is all Jean-Claude's fault, but Angelo doesn't need to know that. "But if you can get over here, I can probably set you up with a teacher. One that doesn't report their students to the government." There's silence for a moment, then I hear him cover the phone with his hand and say something to Jubilee. I hear muffled angry voices, and a door slam, before he comes back on the line.

"Anita?"

"I'm still here."

"There's one problem with that."

"Money? I'm sure I can dig up enough for you two to catch a Greyhound out here."

"No. It's Jubilee. She......she don't like vampires. She hates them. And, well, you know you're national news, right? The Executioner of St Louis dating the city's Master vampire? She got nothing against you, Anita, she just can't be around a vamp without itching to dust them."

"I see." I know my voice has gone bitchy, but I can't help it. "The little Chinese delinquent, who is in an inter-racial relationship with a mutant, is racist against vamps. That's a little ironic."

"NO!" The anger vibrates across the line. "Anita, before vampires went legit, we had one attack the school that Jubilee and I attended. Not just any vamp, a big dude going by the name of Dracula. Ring a bell? He was so psycho his own kind killed him. He was after a friend of ours. Jubilee....she didn't take it well, okay? It spooked her good. She's had some major fucking shit in her life, and, well, she's never going to be that defenseless again."

"Oh." Good one, Anita. Way to look like a major insensitive bitch. "I can't come out there, Angelo. The Master of Los Angles probably won't let me. Basically, any city with a Master vamp in residence won't let me anywhere near."

"There's something you aren't telling me."

"Yup."

"Okay." This is what I've always loved about Angelo, his willingness to go along with whatever is thrown at him. "So I somehow have to convince Jubicita that the St Louis vampires aren't going to try and bite her?"

"Can you put her on the line again?"

"Yeah, hang on." He sets the phone down, and I hear steps receding from the phone. I use the lull to walk to the kitchen and pour myself a mug of coco. I needed the chocolate boost. A moment later there's the scuffling noises of it being picked up, and I hear a nervous cough. "Um, yeah?"

"Jubilee, I promise you, there's not a vampire in St Louis stupid enough to try and hurt you."

There's a pause, and I can tell she's trying to wrap her mind around that. "Lady, vampires are like people. They're just strong, fast, hard-to-kill undead people. I can deal with the strong and fast, been-there-done-that sort of shit. It's the how long it takes me to kill them that worries me. There's always some dumbshit trying to prove he's hot-stuff by taking out a mutant, or looking for an easy meal. How can you guarantee that one of them's not going to take a fancy to me?"

"Because they're all too scared of me." I grin into the phone, letting her process that information. I like her. She's not scared of vampires because they're dead, she's worried because she doesn't know how fast she can kill them. Smart girl. "Jubilee, I'm the Executioner."

"I know. So?"

"So. I don't have a problem blasting off body-parts of vampires that annoy me. You're with me, that means you're under my protection. I don't take well to people that fuck with my people."

"Yer relationship with the undead Playgirl Playmate doesn't deter them?"

I choke on my coco, prompting a laugh from Jubilee. "I don't deny that my relationship with Jean-Claude helps, but he doesn't stop me from killing people that annoy me."

"Just so long as fang-face isn't dictating who you slice and dice." Oh yes, I definitely like her. "I'll let Angelo come on one condition."

"What's that?"

"I get to come, and I'm carrying a nice, hidden, silver-edged knife at all times. I know it won't kill them unless I hit just right, but it'll slow them down."

"I can't promise you that you can keep it at all times, but I promise we'll put up a hell of a fight before you have to hand it over."

"Good enough. If you had promised, I'd have known you were lying. We'll be there, and I promise not to kill anything without proper provocation. Here, I'll let you talk to Angelo again. ANGE!!!!! Pack your bags, we're moving. Here, you talk to her." I blink as the phone changes hands again, attempting to unravel everything she had said.

"Hey."

"Angelo, is Jubilee a mutant also?"

"Why?"

"She said something about knowing if I lied, and vamps liking a challenge with mutants. I don't care if she is, I just feel like I should warn Jean-Claude if I'm bringing a trigger-happy weapon to town."

"I thought you were a trigger-happy weapon."

"Touche. You know what I mean."

"Yeah, but she's not a full telepath, if that's what you're asking. She's just good at knowing when people are lying. She's a pyrokinetic."

"Shit. Please tell me she's not going to panic and send people up in flames."

"She won't burn people accidentally. She's got a strong hold on her abilities. It's not flames.....she kinda creates globes of exploding plasma by detonating the air on a sub-molecular level. At least, that's how our profs *thought* her powers work, but they're not totally sure...."

"I don't need a lesson on mutagenic biology, I just needed a yes or no as to whether she could control it."

"Yes. She's never let loose, not even when people piss her off and try to kill her. She's only blown up a few buildings."

"That's not reassuring."

"It's not supposed to be."

I sigh, rubbing my forehead. "Fine. So she won't kill anyone accidentally. How about you?"

He snorts. "Anita, you don't gotta worry about my mutant powers killing someone. Take my word for it. Now, how do you plan on getting Jubilee and I out to St Louis?"

  
  
  
  
  
  


End Chapter Two........  
Coming up......Asher and Jason and the were-leopards, oh my! :)


	3. Bring in the Clowns

Blame Lovecraft! It's all her fault......I'm no longer sure where in the Anita timeline this fits- somewhere between Killing Dance and Obsidian Butterfly.

Anita Blake & the cast of Vampire Hunter belong to Laurell K. Hamilton. Jubilee and Angelo belong to Marvel. Praise will be luxuriously bathed in, flames will be used to make smores. Onwards!

This chapter is for Lovecraft....who really really wanted Richard to get what he deserves.....

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Otherside

  
  


I'm waiting at the Greyhound station for my cousin and his girlfriend, and trying to convince my 'bodyguard' to be a little more inconspicious. It took three weeks to make the travel arrangements for Angelo and Jubilee, mostly because I refused Jean-Claude's help. I like to do things on my own. It annoys him to end, which makes it even more fun. In that time, Angelo raised a baby bird that had fallen out of its nest onto their balcony, one of Jubilee's fish that died in the night, and a roadkill racoon.

"Zane, do you mind?" As usual, he looks like sex-on-legs in a fishnet shirt and tight leather pants. I'm pretty sure he's not wearing any underwear. "Couldn't you have at least worn a sweatshirt or a coat? We don't want to scare Angelo. He's family, be nice." 

Zane's face slowly slides into a sultry smirk. "I don't know what you're talking about, Anita. I'm always very, very good." He licks his lips slowly, flicking his tounge at me. "You just never let me be as good as I can be."

"Why, oh why, must all were-animals I work with be sex maniacs?" I lift my eyes skyward. "Lord, why do you keep surrounding me horny vampires and insatiable weres?"

"God wants you to be happy. He's giving you lots of willing partners. He's going to get upset if you don't accept His gift and get laid more often." Zane puts in dryly. "Is that their bus?" 

I take off across the terminal as the California line pulls up to a gas pump. "C'mon Zane, move that butt." He gives me another lewd grin, but I ignore him and head towards the bus. We hang about ten feet back from the disembarking passengers. I don't know how I'm going to recognize Angelo, I haven't seen him in about five years. I scan the people coming out of the bus, and silently swear. About half of them could be Angelo. After five minuets of hopefully looking for a familiar face, I realize I lost Zane. I backtrack, and find him watching a cluster of people by the back of the bus.

"Niiiiiiiiiiice....." Zane is leering at something, and it takes me a moment to pinpoint his target. A woman is leaning against the bus, eyeing Zane just over the edge of her sunglasses. He gives her a saucy wink, and she lets out a low whistle and fans herself.

"Zane, stop it."

"She's cute!" He grins at her. "If you won't let me play with you, why can't I play with her?"

"Because we're here to pick up Angelo and Jubilee, not to find you a playmate." He keeps watching her, and I poke him. "Zane! Not now."

"You're my Nimir-Ra, Anita. My packleader, even though you are human and not a were-leopard. That does not mean you are my mother." He throws the girl another smile, and she smirks. "Let me get her phone number, then we'll find your baby cousin." Zane flows toward her, and I throw up my hands and walk away, trying to spot Angelo. Zane leans next to her, and I can hear her laugh faintly. I know that laugh. Shit. My head snaps back to them, and I take my first real look at her. Short, punky black hair, clinging black leather coat, leather pants, combat boots, and when she removes the glasses I see startling blue eyes set in a Chinese face. Jubilee. 

"Zane!" He lazily looks up at me, and growls slightly. Jubilee's expression changes from one of flirtation to suspicion, and I know she heard his growl. I see a hand slide under her coat and behind her back. "Zane, is that anyway to treat our guests?"

"You are....?" Her arm movement pauses, as she regards me. Smart girl, she's making me identify myself, not giving away who she's waiting for. 

"Anita Blake, you must be Jubilee. This sex-oozing specimen of the male gender is Zane. Don't pull the knife you have your hand on, he'd like it too much."

"Dios." A young man moves behind her, setting down two suitcases and a steamer trunk. "I can't leave you alone for a second." He shakes his head. "I'm sorry, she's not housebroken yet. No manners." 

She hits him, and Zane and I exchange looks. 

"Who are you?" I eye him, puzzled. He looks *nothing* like Angelo. Tall, brown hair, blue eyes.

"Tu primo, Angelo." He grins at me. "Image inducer. My mutation makes it so that I can't be seen in public without freaking out the normals."

"Oh." I'm not sure how to respond to that. "Couldn't you program it to make you look more like you?"

"Yeah, but then what's the point of trying to keep my cover? If people saw Angelo Espinoza leaving LA, I might as well have signed up for the Animator registration program under my real name."

"He's got a point." Zane's voice rumbles in my ear. He's still watching Jubilee. She's still watching him through narrowed (unfriendly) eyes.

"Zane, stop mentally undressing Jubilee. Wait until we get in the car for that, you're making the old ladies nervous. Jubilee, stop thinking about where to stick the knife. He's a were-leopard, not a vamp. You don't get to kill him just for hitting on you, and he's more than a little bit of a masochist. Slicing him up will only encourage him, trust me." She nods, finally letting go of the sharp thing she's got hidden somewhere in all that form-fitting leather. I have a sinking suspicion that Jubilation Lee is going to appeal to the pard. And to Jason. And the vampires. Damn. "We're going to the Circus of the Damned. Fair warning- it's a vampire business with lots of other bogeymen hanging around. If you're too tired to deal with the undead after your bus ride, speak now and I'll drop you at the hotel."

"But I like mentally undressing her. She's yummy, she's wearing leather, and she has knives." Zane is practically drooling. Angelo looks like he doesn't know whether to laugh or deck him.

"Oooohhhh....I feel so dirty and used." Jubilee just smiles, leaning in closer to Zane. I feel like I should warn him off, but this looks too interesting. "Oh, don't worry Anita. I'm up for *anything* right now." Her voice is slightly breathy as she eyes Zane. He's practically purring. Then there's a quick spark, and Zane jumps back, rubbing his nose. "Oh...... must have been static electricity. How sad." She simpers at Zane as he sulks, holding his face. "Bad kitty."

"Jubicita....." Angelo sighs, lifting the steamer trunk. "Be nice to Anita's friends, okay?"

"The jeep's over here. Let's get going, the night is still young." Jubilee quickly grabbed one of the suitcases and followed me, leaving Zane to grab the other one and trail after. Somehow I already know it's going to be a loooooong night.....

***

Somehow we managed to arrive at the Circus without further incident. I made Zane sit in the front with me, and Jubilee kept wiggling her fingers at him in the rearview mirror for the entire ride. 

***

"What do you mean I can't see Jean-Claude right now?" I took a deep breath and started to count to ten while staring down Jason. "I am not in the mood to be jerked around."

Jason shrugged, not moving from his spot on the couch. "He's fighting with Richard right now. You want to interrupt him, go ahead. Richard will just snap your head off and accuse you of siding with the walking corpse."

"Damn." I thump down next to Jason. "Damn damn damn."

"Why are we here?" Angelo was sitting in another couch, with Jubilee nestled in his arms. "Why don't you just dump me with one of your co-workers to start my 'lessons'?"

"Because I want both Jean-Claude and Richard to get a good look at both of you. Our family has a knack for finding trouble, Angelo, and I'm willing to bet Jubilee is pretty good at it too. I want to avoid any unnecessary problems."

Jubilee raises her head from Ange's shoulder to look at me sleepily. "No problems. Got it."

Angelo chuckles, twisting his fingers in her hair. "Who's definition of trouble, Jubicita? Your's or Anita's?"

"Mine. I never get in trouble. Just interesting situations." With that, she buried her head Angelo's neck and curled up against him. "Wake me when something happens."

Jason laughed cynically, it was not a pretty sound. "Never say something like that around here, Miss Lee. You'll jinx all of us."

That's when the door to Jean-Claude's office flew open. 

Jamil and Richard came stalking out, and I felt my heart leap into my throat when I felt Richard's power coil around me in recognition. He turned to me, eyes golden in his anger. "What do you want here, Anita."

"Ma chere has a right to be here if she chooses, the Circus is always open to her." Jean-Claude glides out of the room, silently shadowed by Asher. He's wearing one of his silk shirts that opens all the way down the chest, and I will myself not to start drooling. "Anita, ma chere." He kisses the back of my hand, and I sense Richard tense. "Is our date still on for tomorrow evening? Don't tell me you're here to cancel!"

"Stop teasing Richard, Jean-Claude. I brought my cousin, Angelo, and his friend Jubilee. They're staying here in St Louis. Angelo's started raising the dead, so he's here to get some training. Take a good look, boys, neither of them are food." I gesture behind me to the couple on the couch, only when I turn around, they're no longer cuddled together. 

Jubilee stands behind the left arm, her hands held lightly at her sides and a strange fire crackling in her eyes. Angelo is reclining against the couch, with one hand on Jubilee's wrist. "Buenos noches, senores." 

"Amazing!" Jean-Claude takes a few steps toward them, his face alight. "Such strange power I can feel from them!" He smiles, closing on the couch. "Intriguing eyes in one of your complexion. Like the water of the Mediterranean." He's reaching for Jubilee's face ,and before I can warn him she slaps his hand away. 

"Don't." Her voice is dead, like Edward's, and I shudder. "Try and touch me again, and you'll learn the danger of playing with fireworks up close and personal."

"You do not like me?" He sounds hurt, but I see a calculating look flash behind his eyes before his smooth, apathetic mask slides into place.

"No." 

"How disappointing." Jean-Claude sighed, adopting the attitude of a mournful puppy. "You do not find me attractive either? Some women do not like me, but at least they find me physically pleasing. Anita did not like me at first, but even she found me beautiful."

"I'm sure you could have any woman you wanted, that's what vampire mind-tricks are for. I find the knowledge of what you are more repulsive than any physical aesthetics you could possibly posses."

"You tell the truth." He doesn't bother to hide the amazement in his voice. "I can smell it on you."

"Jubilee doesn't like vampires very much, Jean-Claude. She had a run-in with a rouge, and survived. You don't touch her, and she won't kill you." He's regarding them with his blank mask, but I can feel the curiosity in his mind. I touch his arm. "Back up, don't give her a reason to do anything. If you give her an opening, she'll take it, I promise."

"Is the Executioner trying to keep vampires alive now?" Richard's voice is harsh. "How interesting."

"What I said to the corpse goes for you too." Jubilee turns her strange eyes on Richard, and Jamil quickly moves closer to him. "I don't know what you are or who you are, and I don't care. I don't like things that go bump-in-the-dark, and I don't like people who upset my friends. I think you probably fall in both categories." She smiled sensually, a predators' grin, and Jamil pulled his power to him. "When Anita gets upset, Angelo gets upset. When Angelo gets upset, I blow things up until he feels better. So don't fuck with Anita."

"Ange, Jubes, Richard is the head of the local werewolf pack." I take a deep breath, slowly moving between her and the boys. "He's my ex-boyfriend. Jamil and Jason are also werewolves. Jamil is Richard's top enforcer and bodyguard, since Richard can't handle the job alone."

"That's nice."

"You be nice." I rub my head. "Can't you people be together for ten minuets without fighting?"

"They were fighting over you. As usual." Asher's soft tones come from the corner. "Richard and Jean-Claude are having issues over how the other one treats you."

"Whoa, you're dating both of them?" Angelo's eyes dart back and forth between the men. "Shit amiga. You got a harem going or something?"

"I think that's what she wants." Richards eyes go all golden, and his face twists into a sneer. "But she's too pure to sleep with a werewolf, she only has sex with corpses." I can't help my sharp intake of breath. "Oh, did that hurt?"

"I told you not to upset her." Jubilee is slowly raising her hands to chest level, flexing her fingers slightly. "You only get one more warning." 

Jamil looked at her with his impassive eyes. "Richard is our Ulfric, little-one. He is pack-leader. Anita may be our lupa, but she cannot accept his beast. He is within his right to reject her."

Jubilee just cracked her gum, looking at him with one eyebrow raised. "Big whoop. So uber-unimpressed. He's still a Grade A numbnut." There's shocked silence for a moment, and then Zane and Jason start giggling.

"Numbnut?" Jason looked at Jubilee incredulously. "I don't think anyone's ever said anything like that to him before!" The two of them howl in laughter, as Richard turned redfaced. "That's wonderful!"

Jamil slowly advanced on Jason, tension coiled in his muscles and beaded dreadlocks swinging behind him. "Are you mocking your Ulfric? You'd join with this *human* in humiliating him?" 

"Watch who you call human, wolfman." Angelo imperceptibly tightens his hold on Jubilee's wrist. Interesting. "You don't know who or what we are. Don't underestimate us too much." 

Jamil turned away from Jason to stare at Angelo. "You don't smell like the dead. You don't feel like a shapeshifter. You, boy, smell faintly of Anita's power, but the girl doesn't feel like anything I know. You are not trained enough to hurt me, and she is harmless."

That's when the room explodes into light.

Once my eyes clear, I have to blink a few times before I believe what I see.

Angelo is standing there, and he's gray. His skin is gray. It shifts and slides along him, moving as he moves. Jubilee floats a foot off the ground, surrounded by shimmering globes that shift colors. Her eyes are glowing as sparks stream from her fingers. Jamil stands infront of Richard, snarling uncertainly at the shining woman and my strange cousin. Jean-Claude has retreated a few feet, placing a nervous Asher behind him. Knowing how much Asher hates fire, I'm proud that he hasn't flinched. Jason sits on the couch, staring in rapture at the colors streaming past him. Zane just lounges against the wall, smirking. It takes me a moment to find my voice. 

"Angelo, what are you?"

"I told you, a mutant." He shoots a bemused glance at Jubilee. "My skin stretches. A lot. Not really a shapeshifter, more of a shape-bender. Like I said, you don't really have to worry about me accidentally hurting someone. If I wanted to, I could, but that requires effort. She, on the other hand, likes to take things apart at the molecular level and turn it into some stunning fireworks. Would you like a demonstration?" His finger stretches away from his body and he pokes Jubilee. "Mi corazon, you're floating again. It's hard for me to look threatening when you're floating and shooting sparks."

"Harmless?" Her smile is innocent, and completely malevolent. "You think I'm harmless, little wolf? Why don't we dance, and you'll see how harmless I am...." 

"Jubicita! Down!" Angelo yanks her wrist and she floats to the floor. "You give away our advantage, and now you want to incinerate my cousin's friends? Anita's never had good taste in men, but frying a few of them would be a bit tacky since we're guests." He grins at us, shrugging. "Told you that my appearance usually freaked out the normals."

Jason grinned back at him, still highly amused by the whole display. "Good thing for you we're not normal." He rose from his couch, padding over to where I stood. "So, does the girl do parties?"


	4. Monster's Ball

Usual: They're not mine, and I'm not making any money. Anita & Co belong to Laurell K Hamilton, Generation X belongs to Marvel. 

*emphasis on word*

mi corazon = my heart

This chapter/interlude is PG-13 for Implied Sexual Content. Let's assume Anita & Co. are their cannon ages as of Obsidian Butterfly. As for the Marvel contingent: Angelo is twenty-two, Jubilee is twenty. Sound good? 

* * *

Otherside

  
  
  
  


"What?" This can't be happening. He's joking. If he's not joking, then I'm very very worried. "Jean-Claude, run that past me one more time?" 

"A party." He leans back, gesturing with his hands. "Here, at the Circus, with you and your two intriguing friends as guests of honor. A private dinner for the adults. I'll have a space in the Circus prepared for dancing, music, something for the younger shapeshifters and the fledglings. Too many of my events are geared toward my peers, sometimes I forget about the 'under one-hundred' crowd."

"You want to put me, my cousin, and a vampire-phobic pyrokinetic, in a building full of bogeymen?" I shake my head. "Jean-Claude, I don't understand. I know that their power fascinates you, but are you willing to risk life, limb, and property by putting them in a room full of vampires?"

"I risk 'life, limb, and property' every time you come over, ma chere." He kisses my arm, and I swat at him.

"Not now. I'm being serious. Why?"

"I'm being serious as well, chere." He purrs and twists his fingers in my hair. I will not jump Jean-Claude. I am here on business. I will control my hormones, no getting kissy. I will resist. I will resist ripping his clothes off. I will.....aw hell. "Stop that!" I slide away from him. "We don't have time for your games right now."

"Ma chere, you hurt me. I never play *games* with you." 

"Jean-Claude....."

"I am lonely." Dear God, he's pouting. "Ever since the children came, you hover like a lioness over them. You do not visit except in our dreams. I am not the only one who misses you, ma chere. Jason and Asher have been unbearable in their sulking." 

  
  


*****

"So they aren't going to bite her?" Angelo is talking to me, but watching Jubilee twirl in-front of the mirror. "She's not going to have any provocation to kill things?"

"Nah." I stretch out, watching the girl through narrowed eyes. "Dressed like that, she's going to get attention, but a firm and polite 'No' will be enough to send them away." I shrug. "Hell, she looks like a teenage delinquent version of the Anita we all know and lust after. If Jubilee doesn't want the attention, she shouldn't wander around in leather, velvet, and sparkles. It looks like she let Jason and Jean-Claude pick out her clothes."

"But I thought you liked me in leather!" Jubilee has her hands on her hips, pouting at the two of us. "I *like* leather. It's flexible and lets me move. Besides, you told me to 'dress for a rave.' Right now, I'm down-right conservative!" 

Angelo snorted. "Trying to get Jubicita to leave the sparkles behind is impossible. They help cover-up the fact she *does* start sparkling when she gets distracted or excited. Everyone's too busy looking at her neck, chest, or face to notice the little glittering lights."

"Fine. Just don't blame me when she's got half the vampire population, and most of the shapeshifters, vying for attention. She's like an Evil Lolita/Dominatrix wet-dream for all of us monsters."

They both blink, looking stunned for a moment. Then Jubilee grins ferally.

"Hmmm.....Zane, you always know the sweetest things to say." She shoots a seductive grin at Angelo, and a panicked look begins to enter his eyes.

"Jubicita.....no. You can't bring anything home with you. No killing things at the hotel. No bloodshed. You promised Anita and Jean-Claude that you wouldn't be a bad girl." 

"Who said anything about bringing something home?" She glides toward him, the evil intent in her eyes shining clear. "What if what I want happens to live there?" 

"Um.....mi corazon....now is not a good time...." Angelo is rapidly turning bright red and cowering in his chair as Jubilee advances on him. "We have a party to get ready for, we don't want to be late..." This is fun. I make myself comfortable in my chair to enjoy the show as Jubilee slowly leans over Angelo.

"Zane?"

"Hmm?" 

Jubilee doesn't even turn to look at me, she just waves a hand at me. "Out."

"You're no fun." Fist-sized globes of plasma shimmer into existence around my head. "Ah, the direct approach. Violence. I understand violence. You two have twenty minuets before we have to leave. I won't knock."

  
  


*****

  
  


I hope to God that I'm hallucinating. I have a nagging suspicion that Jean-Claude might have given me a mental "nudge" to agree to the party, but apparently Angelo and Jubilee agreed enthusiastically. Now I see why.

The two of them just walked in the door with Zane, and it takes me a few moments to remember that they're both adults and know the rules about playing with monsters. It helps to calm me down a little, but I still want to stalk over there and throw a coat over Jubilee. At least Angelo is....covered. She's wearing translucent glitter that catches the lights and throws rainbow lights around her, and not much else. Thank God that Angelo managed to avoid the leather look, instead he's draped head-to-toe in a black silk shirt and black slacks, Jubilee is also favoring the all-black look, in the few places where she doesn't have sparkling skin showing. A low-cut and tighter-than-hell velvet tank top and non-existent leather miniskirt paired with combat boots make her blend in perfectly with the rest of the monster crowd. Zane looks abnormally pleased with himself. I'm willing to bet money that he helped them go shopping, they really didn't bring much with them from LA.

"Magnificent." Jean-Claude is beaming. "They look right at home, don't they ma chere?"

"They are not your monsters, Jean-Claude. My cousin and his girlfriend are human, don't forget that. They don't belong here, and as soon as Angelo gets his animating abilities under control, I'm sending them away. They're kids, Jean-Claude. I don't want them getting pulled into this...place. They deserve better than being surrounded by demons and bogeymen and things that go bump-in-the-night for the rest of their lives."

"Human? Don't delude yourself Anita, they harbor no such illusions. Mr. Espinoza and Miss Lee are not human, nor will they ever be, and both of them have accepted that. The question, ma chere, is whether or not you can understand it." He brushes his hand against the back of my neck, and for a second his perfect mask drops so that I can see his resignation as well as feel it through our binding marks. "They have no place in the bright, sunny world you reserve for humans, and you would deny them the chance to dance on the otherside. What options do you leave them with? They are not children, ma chere. Give them the chance to live."

"There's more choices than that. It's not just the humans or the monsters, Jean-Claude. For people like Ange and Jubes, there has to be a third option, somewhere for the Gifted."

"Does there?" I hadn't heard Asher come up beside me, and I manage not to jump at his sudden voice. "You're part of a triumvirate, Anita. You are bound to Jean-Claude and Richard as their third. You are a woman, a necromancer, a Christian, a lupa, and many other things we don't understand yet. You have marvelous powers, does that make you human? Gifted? A monster? Why can't the three be the same?" His eyes are distant, and his hand overs over the ruined portion of his face. "Are you telling me that there are no human monsters?"

"Asher..." I sigh. "I'm saying that I don't want anyone seducing them into staying. I want them out of St Louis and away from the trouble we seem to attract. They don't *belong* here with the dead and permanently furry. They're even more likely to make a social faux-pas at something like this than I am. They aren't part of this, and I don't want them to be."

"They seem to be doing fine. Relax, ma chere. They have not insulted anyone, and no one is giving them trouble. All is well. Angelo is making small talk with Cherry, and Jubilee is dancing with Nathaniel. Everything is fine. What are you worried about?"

  
  
  
  
  
  



	5. Enter Night

Usual: Characters? NOT MINE. Money? NONE. The characters belong to the people who own them. Angelo and Jubilee belong to Marvel. Anita & Co belong to Laurell K Hamilton. Our special guest belongs to Animego (best as I can figure). I am being dragged kicking and screaming out of retirement...I finally get out of the game, and then they decide to bring back Jubilee. However, as a recent college grad on the job prowl, we'll see how often I actually write. As you know, the Voices made me do it. I had my Butthole Surfers/Godsmack mix CD in my headset while typing this, so all lyrics belong to them. Onwards!

*emphasis*
    
    //music//

* * *

**Otherside******
    
    //I'm flying//

All she was aware of was the music. The music flowed around her, through her, and she felt the shifting lights wash over her. Cherry was in heaven. Not to mention that she had a cute human to play with for the moment. A smile curled along the young wereleopard's lips as she examined her dance partner. Anita's cousin was simply adorable, in that stumbling human way of his. The girl......Cherry narrowed her eyes a bit. The girl she didn't like as much. Jubilee seemed okay; after all, she had let Cherry drag Angelo out onto the dance floor without putting on a jealous-girlfriend act. In fact, she had given them a merry little wave as they were sucked into the crowd, and she had quickly snapped up Jason for her entertainment. She was a good-natured girl, but she just kept *teasing* Zane and Nathaniel, not that they minded much. And that was probably not a good idea. Nathaniel had been shattered when Anita rejected him, and Cherry didn't want any more silly *human* women hurting him. 

She slid around Angelo, running her hands around his chest as she grinned. Angelo gave her a smile as the sound pulsed around them. The cloying, seductive music made Cherry consider treating him as if he was any other shifter, but Anita might not take it well if she seduced the woman's little human cousin. It didn't matter what Jean-Claude said, the boy was as human as they come. So what if he had a taint of Anita's power? Power didn't make you non-human; being a monster was a mindset, not a birthright. 
    
    //I wonder who was in my room last night, who the hell was in my bed?//

Jubilee spun around Jason, thankful for the fact that he wasn't too much taller than she was. So far the older boy had been incredibly polite, something that did not go unnoticed by Jean-Claude's watchful eye. Jubilee huffed in frustration, dragging her dance partner farther into the crowd.

"What's wrong?"

"Your boss." Jubilee gestured back the direction they had come from. "I don't like the way he was watching us." She firmly planted his hands on her waist and snaked her arms around his neck. "I wanna have fun. I wanna dance, and have a good time. I don't want to have Anita lecturing me like I'm a child, and I don't want your boss looking like I'm the next course for the evening."

Jason grinned. "He can't help it. You act too much like Anita, and you've got the taste in clothing he only wishes she had."

"No shit. I swear, all that woman owns is solid color t-shirts and black jeans! That's it! *Maybe* there's some out-of-date suit in the back of her closet, but that's about it."

"Hey now." Jason's grin faltered. "She gets attacked or shot at too often to worry about fashion. Besides, as cute as you look, there's no way you'd be able to fight in that outfit if something came up, and there's always some fight going on around here. So don't be too hard on Anita, she's got a lot to deal with without trying to look out for two humans."

"What did you say?" Jubilee stood still, fists clenched as the music continued to pulse around them. "What did you call me?" 

Jason shrugged. "Hey, I saw the sparkle show. I'm sure that's fun and stuff, but this is heavy stuff, Jubilee. You can float, and that's cool, but Anita tends to get in over her head in some serious shit, and you're going to be a distraction when it comes down to it."

"Is that a challenge, pup?"

"Don't try to sound tough, Jubilee. It doesn't suit you. You're too cute for that bad-girl crap, so drop it and let's dance."
    
    //There must have been a body there, I swear I smelled some flesh.//

Jean-Claude smiled to himself as he watched Jubilee drag Jason deeper onto the teeming dance floor, hiding a chuckle as he caught her one-fingered salute that he had no doubt was intended for him. His eyes continued the sweep of the large ballroom, silently savoring the elation and lust that rolled off of the fledglings in waves. A very drastic contrast to the woman who stood next to him, radiating tension. "Are you not enjoying yourself, ma petite? The music is a little loud, but it is not as distasteful as modern music can be.

Anita frowned, never ceasing her scan of the dance floor. "It doesn't feel right. So many new, young vampires, and no shows of dominance. No one is flashing any fang. I can't help feeling that this whole situation is just waiting to explode on us." She waved impatiently at the throng below them. "You've invited all the shifters and vamps, and you expect tonight to end peacefully?!?"

"Do not be such a pessimist, ma petite! My staff...impressed...upon my guests that any show of violence this evening would not be tolerated, and I would see to the discipline of any problems *personally*. Not even fledglings are dense enough to ignore that warning. Your charming cousin and his darling companion have nothing to fear tonight. The girl has not shown an inclination to 'dust vamps' as she so quaintly puts it, and Angelo seems to be enjoying to company of your pard."

"Like I said, Jean-Claude, that's what I'm afraid of. I don't want them getting caught up in this."

"As usual, ma chere, you sound like a broken record. They are adults, they will do what they see fit." He toyed with her hair idly while watching the shifting floor. "They aren't humans, Anita, no matter how human they look."

"Right now I'm just counting my blessings that they haven't met some of my other friends." A small smile played with the corner of her mouth. "It could be worse- they could have met Edward."

That's when they heard the slap ring out above the music.
    
    _//My mouth went through the ceiling and my body fell to the floor//_

"There has been a challenge!" The crowd roared its approval, shifting uneasily. "Jubilation, guest of the Master, has challenged Jason of the Pack!" The DJ turned toward Jean-Claude, giving a bow to the balcony.

"Don't even consider it!" Anita hissed at him. "Jason will tear her to shreds! You promised, Jean-Claude, no violence."

"Let her." Anita turned to see Angelo striding up to them, an ecstatic Cherry in tow. "Anita, she's pissed. Jason said or did something that really got to her. I felt her telepathy flare a moment ago. I didn't catch much, but I know that either you let her take it out on him, or she's going to be a walking time bomb for the rest of the night."

"If I let the challenge move forward, I can set the rules, ma chere. If I do not do something now, Richard will let Jamil deal with such an insult to the pack. Jason or Jamil, Anita, which do I let her battle? I cannot protect her from both."

"Personally, I think she could take Jamil, but it's your call." Angelo shrugged. "She spooks Jamil something fierce, and she'd be less inclined to hold back against him."

"They are both werewolves! One cut, and she could end up a lycanthrope! Is that what you want for her, Angelo?"

"Que sera sera." Angleo shrugged. "Ella tiene mi corazon, si, pero Jubilee es su propia chica. I can't stop her, and neither can you."

"He is right, Anita."

"Are you telling me that Richard would send Jamil after Jubilee just for slapping Jason? From what Ange is saying, Jason probably had it coming." Anita shook her head. "I don't believe it. He may be angry with me, but he'd never take it out on her."

"It's not that she slapped him, ma chere. That would be excused as defending her honor. It is the fact that she has publicly challenged Jason, and by extension she brings into question Richard's position as Ulfric. If I refuse to let Jason answer the challenge, I am saying that Richard does not have control of his pack. If he did, then Jason would not have done anything to be challenged. He would have behaved himself as my guest, rather than insult another guest and provoke an incident."

"I still don't understand! She is a human, she's not a threat to any of them! What do they need to prove against her?"

"That's the point." Cherry was practically bouncing. "She's theoretically a human. If Jean-Claude says they can't fight, he's saying Richard's pack is too weak to fight a human. Richard can't tolerate that."

"There's no *theory* about it, Cherry. Jubilee's human and she'll get ripped apart if she goes up against Jason! Jean-Claude, you can't be serious about allowing this!" 

"I do not have a choice. I am sorry, ma chere. I cannot prevent it, but I will attempt to delay it." Jean-Claude turned to the crowd, spreading his arms wide as they fell silent. "I thought I made it clear, that there was to be no violence tonight. Unfortunately, pride seems to have ruined our peaceful evening. I will allow the challenge, but not here, and not now. I will meet with the Ulfric, and we will settle this." Jean-Claude smiled, but it did not reach his eyes. "I am sorry that our party has been interrupted. Please, continue. Jubilation and Jason, please come to my office." He stepped back from the balcony, and the DJ resumed the music as the crowd drifted uneasily apart and began to resume dancing. 

Anita watched as Jubilee plowed through the crowd, blue streamers trailing from her eyes as she took the steps two at a time. A shell-shocked Jason trailing after her. "You two had better have a damn good explanation for this."

"Ask mister macho there." Jubilee snarled over her shoulder as she brushed past Anita. "I need to go out on the roof and vent before I *accidentally* blow something off." 

"I thought Angelo said you had your power under control." 

"I don't suffer fools well. And I get twitchy when I'm annoyed."

"Jubicitia, don't you think 'twitchy' is an understatement?" Angelo smirked as he pulled her into a hug.

"Nope."

"Do you have *any* idea what you both have started?" Jean-Claude's annoyance was plain as he stormed towards them. "This is not a joke, Miss Lee." 

"Tell it to your boy there. He seems to think I'm some kind of Barbie doll."

"I'm getting a headache."

"I'll give you a headache, you…."

"Jubliee!"

"Don't start, either of you. Just don't."

"Um, guys…" Cherry was leaning over the railing, eyes wide as she surveyed the dance floor below.

"Not now Cherry."

"No. Seriously. Take a look."

Anita sighed, and moved to the rail. "Shit. Jean-Claude, I think we have a bigger problem than these two."

The dancers were frozen, hair, clothes, body, suspended in time as a thin mist swirled around their feet. The only movement came from a small girl dancing alone, her laughter floating like windchimes. She stopped, and Anita gasped audibly. The girl's eyes glowed a brilliant gold, and her smile felt ice in Anita's lungs.

"No." Anita sensed Asher move beside her, and felt his fear faintly through her link to Jean-Claude. "She shouldn't be here. She can't be here."

"It would appear that she is." Anita felt the cold feeling settle into her stomach as Jean-Claude began to move back down the stairs. "Kyuuketsu, you honor us." 

  
  
  


**Spanish (loose) translation: "What will be, will be. She has my heart, but Jubilee is her own woman."


	6. Chimes in the Wind

Usual: The world of Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter belongs to Laurell K. Hamilton. Jubilation Lee, Angelo Espinoza, and X-Men/Generation X belong to Marvel Comics. And Kyuuketsu Miyu belongs to Animego (I think).

* * *

Otherside  
chapter six

"The bloodlines are weak." A look of distaste twisted the girl's delicate features as she gazed through the window at the party below. "They are weak, and they do not know of the Shinma."

"Why are you here, Kyuuketsu?" Jean-Claude kneeled down to reach eye-level with the Shinma princess. "What is it you want of us, Miyu?"

"Your spiritualist." She giggled, eyeing Anita from under half-lowered lashes in a manner that sent shivers down Anita's back. Anita gritted her teeth, straightening her spine. She refused to let the strange girl see her flinch. "Himeko seems to find my presence... distasteful... right now. I am in need of a replacement."

"I wonder why." Sarcasm dripped from Jean-Claude's voice as he considered the diminutive girl. "You've only been taunting the poor thing for years, and then you drop something of this magnitude into her lap. I would think she has a right to hate you."

"She wanted the truth." Miyu shrugged and turned back to the window, eyes alight with mirth. "She has demanding the truth from me for so very long. I honored her dedication and gave her the path. It's not my fault that she is not strong enough to embrace it."

"You are cruel, Kyuuketsu."

"I am just, Princeling." 

"You don't want Anita." Jean-Claude, sat back, a satisfied smile playing around his lips. "You adore Himeko too much to risk bringing another spiritualist into play."

"I needed some excuse to get past immigration." Miyu tossed her hair, never taking her eyes from the dancing below her. "The quest of the Western clans to be recognized as 'human' has taken its toll on those of us who must remain in shadow. They recognize my nature, even if they do not know my purpose. And an Eastern vampire is such a rarity, they screen carefully to make sure I am not here to incite an uprising against the living."

"You can pass as human." Asher's voice was soft in the silence of the room. "You are not bound by the laws. Holy water, crosses, sunlight, they all mean nothing to you. You are free to come and go as you choose."

"I many not be bound by the geas of the mundane vampire, but that does not mean I should pretend to be something I am not."

"Who did you want to see you come here, Miyu?" Jean-Claude stood, his frustration plain on his pale face. "You never leave Japan, and you came as yourself for a reason. Now what is it?"

"I bring you a warning, Princeling. You have made many enemies in your rise to power, many powerful creatures of shadow. They hate, and they do not forget."

"And what does that have to do with you?"

"They have consulted with me." She turned her luminous eyes to watch Jean-Claude, mirth dancing in their depths. "You have confounded them so much, that they asked my advice, and then my aid. I am not eldest, but I am Miyu, and even you with your baffling triumvirate could not hope to stand against me."

"The Council." Jason's shock was palatable. "It was the Council."

"Why did they summon you, Miyu?"

"I am Kyuuketsu, no one summons me." Miyu's anger crackled through the space, causing Anita to wish that she had brought one of her guns upstairs. "They petitioned, and I decided to respond. Consider yourself very lucky that I did not agree with them." 

"What did they want?" Anita flexed her fists, willing the tension out of her body. "I don't understand."

"You do not understand, because you do not know what I am, Spiritualist. I am beyond your comprehension." She giggled, casting a cloying look at Jean-Claude. "They wished for me to banish him to the Dark."

Asher hissed, and Jean-Claude took a step backwards from the ethereal child. "And how do we know that you are not here to do just that?"

Miyu shot them a baleful glance. "Because you are still here!" She giggled again. "No fear, I would not banish such a pitiful creature as yourself. The Dark would eat you up and spit you out again!" 

"Stop playing games, Kyuuketsu." Jean-Claude paced around the room, casting annoyed glances at the small figure smiling sweetly at him. "I do not have the patience for your whimsy."

Rage flared in her eerie golden eyes. "I come to warn you against danger, and you insult me. You forget what I am. I am the Guardian, and despite your diluted bloodline, you are still descended from the Western Shinma. Your bloodline is built of traitors and cowards, I should return all of you to the Dark! However, since you are of both worlds, I will not return you without due cause. You live as human, you may then stay mired in the realm of humanity."

"Are you saying you said 'no' to the Council, and they accepted it gracefully?" Anita snorted, eyeing the strange girl skeptically. "Somehow I doubt they'd take no for an answer and let you walk away unscathed."

"Gracefulness has never been a strength of the Western Shinma." Miyu's mouth curved into a wry twist. "However, they did not have a choice."

Jean-Claude placed a hand on Anita's shoulder, not taking his eyes off of his guest. "Ma chere, I will explain all at a later time. Simply believe me when I say that the Council could not hope to stand against Miyu, even if they joined forces to fight as one. She is the Guardian, and they do well to remember that."

"Now you flatter me?" Miyu snorted, tossing her hair behind her shoulder. "You would have done better to praise me at the beginning, Princeling. Westerners. I will never understand the way you think. You should remember your manners more often, Jean-Claude, you would get in much less trouble with your elders." She smiled suddenly, a bright flash of amusement. "Unfortunately, I do not have time to teach you manners, no? I have been away from my duties too long as it is. I have more important things than saving the skin of a worthless Princeling who is foolish enough to annoy his Council. Larva!"

Anita felt Jean-Claude's grip on her shoulder tighten as...something...materialized out of the slight shadow by the window. She watched as Jubilee's hand drifted slowly to the knife that was concealed inside her boot...if the girl could just slip her knife free...Jean-Claude squeezed her shoulder, hard, and she moved her head to look at him. He silently shook his head at her, eyes focused on the tall, robed presence. She nudged Jubilee, who slowly slid the knife back into its slim sheath, obviously displeased that she was not allowed to use it. Angelo laid a warning hand on her wrist, and she quieted slightly, but continued to glare at the little demoness.

Miyu skipped gleefully up to the looming figure, tossing her arms around its neck as pale arms encircled her delicate frame. "We will go home our way, yes Larva? No more airplanes crowded with scared humans. Pituh! As if I would drink from them." She snuggled into his shoulder, eyes dancing with amusement.

Jean-Claude bowed slightly. "I thank you for your warning, Kyuuketsu. However, it was un-needed. I am well aware of the Council's...displeasure with me."

"That was not my warning, Princeling." Miyu yawned, toying with the folds of her companion's cape. "You managed to insult and annoy me beyond belief before I was able to deliver my message." 

Jason yelped loudly. "There's more? Yer kidding." He quieted quickly under the quicksilver glares of Asher and Anita, but Miyu had already hopped down from her perch to approach the terrified werewolf.

"Oh yes. You are being hunted. My decline of their offer has forced them to consider more…brutal actions. They have sent a hunter, a creature almost as skilled in the hunt as I am." She primped her hair girlishly, fluttering her eyelashes. "Unfortunately, his kills lack finesse. He is an animal, nothing more. However, you would still do well to be wary of him. He has taken up the hunt, and won't rest until every single one of you is permanently dead. Those two children have a chance, if you send them away now. The Council does not yet know they are here, and they are not assigned as secondary targets. The animal has your scent, Princeling, you and your pretty spiritualist. And he will not rest until you are both very much deceased."

"One man?" Jean-Claude chuckled lightly as Miyu levitated herself back to Larva and they moved towards the door. "Once again, you have my thanks Miyu. However, I think Anita and I can handle ourselves."

"I did not say it was a man." Miyu opened the hall door, revealing a strange red glow. "Ask the girl, she knows. He is not a man." She stepped backwards into the light, her silent companion looming behind her. "If it was simply a man, I would not have come all this way." The sound of windchimes suddenly drifted through the air, and a wind whirled violently throughout the room. "His name is Creed." And then they were gone. 


End file.
